Once, we went to a Mexican restaurant that served grilled and salty green onions and jalapeno peppers on top of our dishes. What was probably a simple addition, kind of like a parsley garnish, those peppers and onions were the highlight of the meal! We’ve seen the jalapenos, especially, at other restaurants that serve street tacos. Usually, against one wall, you’ll find a “salad bar” table with lime quarters, pickled onions, sliced radishes, various salsas and the charred jalapenos, all of which you can add to your street tacos. Watch out for the jalapenos though – you never know which ones are going to be mild and which ones are going to make you cry!

Inspired by those simple but delicious onions and peppers, my husband and I came up with this Street Taco Party Kit idea to take to a recent family gathering. While the hosts provided grilled chicken and pork, other guests brought corn and flour tortillas, sour cream and cheese. In our kit, we put the following: 

1. Salsa of your choice
2. Limes cut in half or quarters to squeeze over the finished taco for brightness
3. Chopped cilantro (the easiest way to do this is to put a bunch in a measuring cup and, using a scissors, cut the cilantro within the measuring cup. Once you try this on cilantro, parsley, chives and other herbs, you’ll never chop again!)
4. Diced avocados
5. Grilled spring onions/green peppers. (My husband and I battle over whether or not to take off the little roots at the end. I think it looks prettier without them but he thinks they taste good. Clearly, he won this particular battle.)
6. Grilled jalapeno peppers

Method for the spring onions and jalapenos –
Make sure they are all washed well and free of dirt. Trim off the hairy root ends of the spring onions (or leave them on – see above).

Put either the peppers or the onions in a bowl and drizzle some olive oil over the mix. Use your hands or tongs to make sure everything is coated. Do the onions and peppers separately because you’re going to want to grill them separately because they take different amounts of time.

Place the peppers and onions on a medium-hot grill, turning only as you notice they are charring. When they are done, throw them back in the oil bowl and sprinkle sea salt over them and toss to coat. Add the peppers and onions to your Street Taco Party Kit.

Here’s one of the tacos I made with all these goodies. It was delicious, fun and easy, especially when you have other people bring some of the ingredients. Best of all, none of the items in our kit have to be served hot or cold. Room temperature is just fine!